The present invention relates to tinters and, more particularly, to multi-canister tinters having apparatus for stirring a tinter fluid in all of the canisters.
It is economical to manufacture paint in large quantities, all of the same color. Customers demand a variety of colors, usually in very small quantities. One solution to these conflicting requirements includes manufacturing a base-colored paint, usually white, and providing a plurality of differently colored tinter fluids at the point of sale. Recipes are provided relating quantities of one or more tinter fluids to a final mixed color. Custom mixing of a pigmented tinter fluid at the point of sale produce the final color desired by a customer. Accuracy in dispensing the tinter fluid is vital to attaining the desired color.
Tinter fluids contain a fluid carrier with a suspension of pigment dispersed therein. If not mixed on a regular basis, the pigment may settle to the bottom of the mixture. This produces different pigment densities at different depths in the mixture. Accordingly, a given quantity of tinter fluid from near the bottom of the mixture contains a greater amount of pigment than an equal quantity from near the top of the mixture. Furthermore, as tinter fluid is dispensed from the bottom of such a separated mixture, the density of pigment in the tinter fluid remaining in the mixture decreases. It is thus seen that it is important to provide a mechanism for stirring the tinter fluid.
One type of stirrer includes a crank handle accessible for manual actuation external to a tinter canister. An impeller stirs the tinter fluid within the canister.
One popular type of tinter dispenser system includes a plurality of tinters disposed in a circle on a rotatable plate. Twelve or more tinters are commonly employed. Manual stirring of so many tinters is generally not practical. One solution includes an electric motor mounted atop each tinter connected to drive an impeller within. The need for twelve or more motors, plus the wiring and control therefor, increases the cost of this solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,026, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, describes a multi-canister paint tinter in which impellers in all of a plurality of canisters are driven by a single motor. The motor drives a plate in an orbiting motion. Drive arms hinged to the plate are connected to ends of crank arms above the canisters. The crank arms are connected to shafts of impellers in the canisters. The connections between the crank arms and the drive arms permit the drive arms to be hinged out of the way for filling the canisters.
The apparatus of the above patent employs an impeller operatively connected to a cover of its canister. When the cover is removed, the impeller is removed with it. The tinter fluid within the canister is a viscous material having a high pigment content. Care must be taken to avoid staining items when the impeller, coated with tinter fluid, is removed with the cap. The ability to remove the impeller with the cap is useful in permitting cleaning of the interior of the canister.
Other tinters employ a stirrer having lower and upper bearings integral with the canister. Although this permits removal of the canister cap without removing the impeller, it makes it difficult to remove the impeller for cleaning prior to changing the color of the tinter fluid therein.